April 2, 2026
Class Cancelled*** A White Soldier’s Experience of the WWII Segregated Army
Class Description
We regret that this Class Has Been Cancelled for Reasons Beyond Our Control
Dan Hurley’s book, Crossing Borders/Expanding Boundaries: A White Soldier’s Experience of the WWII Segregated Army, explores the journey of one soldier, his father, from the violence of the segregated American South to the horrors of the yard at Dachau. Irwin Hurley sent over 720 letters to his wife Margie during his service in the War. Those, along with two diaries and an extensive scrapbook, were the source material for Dan’s book. Irwin Hurley, who grew up in Northern Kentucky, was repeatedly challenged to expand beyond the limitations of his middle class, suburban, Catholic upbringing and beliefs to form new understandings of other groups of people he encountered.
Crossing European national boundaries in 1944 and ’45 triggered a host of challenging issues. But the most important boundary Irwin crossed was in the United States – the boundary between the Upper South of Northern Kentucky and the Deep South, where he helped organize and train a Quartermaster Truck Company made up of 130 African American enlisted men and headed by a Jewish Captain. Those experiences brought Irv face to face with the harsh realities of segregation and racism. He had to learn to relate to African Americans and grapple with the long-term implications of Jim Crow segregation. That struggle came to a head in July 1944 when an African American member of Irwin’s battalion was shot and killed by a bus driver because he sat in the “wrong” seat on a Durham, North Carolina, bus.
Once the company reached the European Theater, they plunged into the vital, but largely unappreciated, logistics work of the Quartermaster Corps. Assigned in early 1945 to support the 12th Armored Division of Patton’s army, they invaded Germany and drove south through Bavaria. Irwin observed the irony that American ’colored’ boys with their limited rights in this country were guarding captured Nazi troops in a unit commanded by a Jewish Captain.
At the close of the fighting in Europe, Irwin’s unit participated in the effort to liberate the Dachau Concentration Camp. After his first trip into the camp, he posed the question to his wife of imagining if they had been raised as German citizens of the time, would they have succumbed to the same mentality as those who built and allowed those camps to operate.
Judge Andrew King is currently running for a seat on the Ohio Supreme Court, challenging the Democratic incumbent, Jennifer Brunner. His campaign centers on a lifelong dedication to the principles of the Constitution. Judge King is recognized for his strong conservative record and is considered a stalwart within the conservative movement. Throughout his career, Judge King has consistently advocated for limited government, individual liberty, and strict adherence to the Constitution.
Speaker Bio
Dan Hurley has had an incredible career and continues to do so after retirement. He was a teacher, historian, the Director of Leadership for Leadership Cincinnati, the interim CEO for the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, and a producer and reporter for WKRC-TV. He is currently the host of a local NPR radio show.
Republican Judge Andrew King is a conservative leader running for the Ohio Supreme Court. Judge King brings a lifelong commitment to constitutional values and a strong conservative record. A proud member of Buckeye Firearms, the Ohio Gun Collectors Association, and an NRA Life Member, Judge King sits on the Fifth District Court of Appeals, where he has written hundreds of appellate opinions. He’s also served by assignment on the Ohio Supreme Court and the Seventh District Court of Appeals. In 2025, he was appointed to the Ohio Board of Professional Conduct, which holds judges and lawyers to high ethical standards. A dedicated member of the Federalist Society and faculty advisor for Capital University Law School’s Federalist Society chapter, Judge King is a conservative stalwart who believes in limited government, individual liberty, and strict adherence to the Constitution. With over 15 years of legal experience, he’s tackled tough cases as an assistant prosecuting attorney in Delaware County, taking on complex felonies and high-profile prosecutions. His public service also includes key roles like Senior Elections Counsel to Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, Senior Assistant Attorney General to Attorney General Dave Yost, and Chief Legal Counsel for Licking Regional Water District. Among Judge King’s first legal experiences were clerkships on the Fourth District Court of Appeals and externships with Ohio Supreme Court and U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio. He graduated from Ohio State University with a degree in History and received his law degree with honors from Capital University Law School. Judge King currently teaches Federal Courts and Federal White-Collar Crime, as an adjunct professor at Capital Law School. A respected voice on appellate practice, ethics, and constitutional law, he’s published in Ohio Trial, the New York Times, and other outlets, earning accolades like the Ohio State Bar Foundation’s 2018 Community Service Award for Attorneys 40 and under and a 2019 Foundation Fellowship. Deeply rooted in his community, Judge King has served in leadership roles with the Boy Scouts of America, on the Granville Board of Zoning Appeals, and as an Elks member. He lives in Granville with his wife and has two grown children.